The problem seems to be related to installation of the Dropbox client. If you use Dropbox via the web only, you don't need to read further - you should be fine. But if you have installed the client, you need to make sure that the local Dropbox folder is located on your C:\ drive and not in your My Documents. As we all know, anything on your C drive is not included in the sync process. (So any files you create there need to be backed up by you manually!)
Here are the steps for viewing and changing (if necessary) the location of your local Dropbox folder:
- Right-click on the Dropbox icon in your system tray (lower right)
- Choose "Preferences" from the menu
- Click on the "Advanced" tab and make sure your folder location doesn't start with C:\users\yourprofilename:
- Click the Move button if you need to move the folder. A new folder named "Dropbox" will be created in the folder you select, and all your existing content will be moved to the new location.
We roam too but would want the Dropbox to follow. Do your folks have a home computer and then roam? Ours don't.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Michael. The problem was that some folks had a lot of content in Dropbox that was taking up space on our file server. Because Dropbox by it's nature "roams" (is available from anywhere) we didn't want to take up space unnecessarily. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteI think the problem has to do with getting Dropbox to point to a network drive - I hear it really balks at that. And the C drive is, of course, computer specific. So ideally we would like to install the client on every computer and have the files reside on the network and have the Dropbox profile be on the network version of the roaming profile. I think that makes sense. Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteMichael, my question is why you'd want the dropbox folder to be on the local network at all whether part of a roaming profile or otherwise. Since the point of dropbox is to store files in the cloud so they're accessible from anywhere, isn't putting them on local network storage redundant and taking up local storage resources unnecessarily? I can't say for certain but I'd think the application settings for dropbox would roam with the profile anyway. That way the client would get the correct setting for the user wherever they log in but you don't have to store their dropbox files on your network too. That seems like the ideal scenario to me.
ReplyDeleteSuppose you had 2 computers, 1 home, 1 school. At any given time, you would have 3 synchronized copy of a given file - home C drive, Dropbox cloud, and school home drive which in our case is a network drive. I agree that the settings and the application install should be OK but I read that pointing Dropbox to a home drive that is network-based is a problem. By the way, I appreciate your feedback. I work in IT at Princeton Friends School, a small Quaker school in Princeton NJ.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletenice tech news blog, thx for sharing..
ReplyDeletevisit my blog technology news